In Brazil, "Soldiers of Jesus" Are Wreaking Havoc on Non-Christian Communities
BY BETH STONEBURNER
DECEMBER 10, 2019
Jesus said turn the other cheek, but an evangelical Christian group called Soldiers of Jesus is taking over large swaths of Brazil, threatening religious minorities with death if they dont convert. The Washington Posts Terrence McCoy has the disturbing story:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/soldiers-of-jesus-armed-neo-pentecostals-torment-brazils-religious-minorities/2019/12/08/fd74de6e-fff0-11e9-8501-2a7123a38c58_story.html
Priests have been killed. Children have been stoned. An elderly woman was seriously injured. Death threats and taunts are common. Gangs are unfurling the flag of Israel, a nation seen by some evangelicals as necessary to bringing about the return of Christ.
All of this is bolstered by a right-wing government that came into power on the backs of evangelical Christians who werent bothered enough by the blatant cruelty of President Jair Bolsonaro and a rise in Christian programming in the media that routinely paints non-Christians as villains. (It all sounds very familiar.)
These gangs in particular have broken into peoples homes, forcing them at gunpoint to destroy religious items that arent Christian. Religious leaders who practice a non-Christian faith have been forced to shut down their houses of worship or face death. So far, over 200 of these temples have been forced to close. There is no sign of this persecution stopping any time soon.
Until conservative Christians have the courage to call it out, no matter the country, it will never change. Theyre too addicted to power to do the right thing.
https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2019/12/10/in-brazil-soldiers-of-jesus-are-wreaking-havoc-on-non-christian-communities/
(Short article, no more at link.)
FiveGoodMen
(20,018 posts)Kaiserguy
(740 posts)Christians are Christian in name only they follow not Jesus but Satan.
BigDemVoter
(4,157 posts)and when fundies are allowed to run roughshod over everybody else, telling everybody what to believe and how to worship.
Disgusting.
appalachiablue
(41,182 posts)Last edited Wed Dec 11, 2019, 10:35 PM - Edit history (1)
> "The mounting violence has horrified mainstream evangelicals. When I see these [temples], I pray against it because theres a demonic influence there, said David Bledsoe, an American missionary who has spent two decades here. But I would condemn such actions.
The global ascent of evangelicalism and particularly Pentecostalism, its fastest-growing movement, has led to violence against indigenous and African religions from countries such as Haiti, Nigeria and Australia. But analysts say the forces fueling the prejudice here the historic presence of religious minorities, newly emboldened evangelicalism and lax state oversight are particularly acute."
ThoughtCriminal
(14,050 posts)We need not just victory, but a huge crushing victory.
ck4829
(35,094 posts)dalton99a
(81,636 posts)The global ascent of evangelicalism and particularly Pentecostalism, its fastest-growing movement, has led to violence against indigenous and African religions from countries such as Haiti, Nigeria and Australia. But analysts say the forces fueling the prejudice here the historic presence of religious minorities, newly emboldened evangelicalism and lax state oversight are particularly acute.
Rio de Janeiro, long home to a diverse collection of Afro-Brazilian religions, is also now the center of Brazilian neo-Pentecostalism, a zealous strain of evangelicalism more frequently linked to intolerance.
The mayor is a bishop in a Pentecostal church. The city is home to President Jair Bolsonaro, baptized in the River Jordan and carried to office by the Pentecostal vote. And its the birthplace of the powerful Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, founded by Edir Macedo, a close Bolsonaro ally who wrote a book that condemns Afro-Brazilian religions as diabolical and philosophies used by demons. The book was briefly banned by a judge who deemed it abusive and prejudicial.